The County Council carries out regular monitoring of over 250 permitted sites in Hampshire to ensure that operations are being carried out in accordance with planning permissions (and the conditions and legal agreements attached to them). Where planning permission was granted subject to the submission of additional information (e.g. details of the colour of a building or of an access) the County Council ensures that these details are submitted and are acceptable.

Monitoring and enforcement duties are set out in the County Council’s Development Control Charter116kb. This requires that all active minerals and waste sites are to be visited at least four times a year, inactive sites at least once a year, and complaints responded to within two days. The frequency of visits is dependent on the complexity of the operations; the stage they have reached; the need to monitor particular activities; and the available staff resources.

2: What incidents are the County Council interested in?

If you suspect that the following planning breaches or any others may be occurring please contact us with information such as vehicle markings and registration and the times the activities occurred. We can also accept formal complaints online.

If you consider that a breach of planning control is occurring at a minerals or a waste site, or a minerals or waste activity is occurring without planning permission, you should contact a monitoring officer, or use our online complaints form.

Breaches of planning control should be reported as soon as possible. This will allow the County Council to investigate and remedy the problem without delay. Any complaints received, whether it concerns permitted sites or unauthorised activity, will be investigated and the complainant will receive a response explaining what, if any, action has or will be taken. Enforcement action may be taken where appropriate to remedy a breach of planning control.

4: Will my identity be kept confidential?

The identity of complainants will always be confidential unless the circumstances of the case make confidentiality impossible. If circumstances arises where details have to be disclosed (e.g. in Court) the Council will contact you first.

5: What action can the Council take?

If further action is required it will be through one of the below routes:

Planning Contravention Notice - This is served on landowners/operators to obtain information about a suspected breach of planning control. The information provided is used to decide whether further action is required. Failure to reply to the notice can lead to a fine of up to £1,000 upon conviction.

Breach of Condition Notice - This requires an operator/landowner to comply with planning permission conditions which they have breached. There is no right of appeal and failure to comply could result in prosecution and a £1,000 fine for each offence.

Enforcement Notice - This is used when a serious breach of planning control has occurred. The person served with the notice has 30 days to appeal against the notice. An appeal is heard by an independent Inspector. If the appeal is dismissed or no appeal is made then failure to comply with the requirements of the notice will usually result in prosecution and the maximum fine is £20,000 for each offence.

Stop Notice - A stop notice is issued in conjunction with an enforcement notice to require a particularly harmful activity e.g. waste disposal, to cease. There is no right of appeal but if an enforcement notice appeal is made then the merits of the stop notice may be considered. Non compliance with a stop notice is an offence which carries a maximum fine of £20,000.

Temporary Stop Notice - A temporary stop notice requires a particularly harmful activity e.g. waste disposal, to cease temporarily for a period of 28 days. Non compliance with a temporary stop notice is an offence which carries a maximum fine of £20,000.

Injunction - This is sought in the County or High Court to restrain persons from carrying out or continuing to breach planning controls. The contravention of an Injunction Order is a Contempt of Court and the Court can levy an unlimited fine or impose a custodial sentence.

Direct Action - As a last resort if a person continues to or cannot comply with the requirements of a notice the County Council can enter the land and undertake works in compliance with a notice. The cost would then be charged to the landowner, but in many cases would have to be borne by the Council at least in the short term.

The Regulations provide for the payment of a fee to Mineral and Waste Planning Authorities in England for monitoring of mining and landfill permissions. The fee is paid by the operator / owner of the site.

Careful planning of minerals supply and waste management facilities is essential to enable the delivery of sustainable development, and manage potential impacts on the surrounding communities and the environment. Minerals and Waste planning involves preparing planning policy and the determination of planning applications for minerals and waste developments. In Hampshire, this includes sites for the extraction of sand and gravel, clay, chalk, oil and gas and waste developments such as recycling, composting, transfer, recovery, processing and landfill sites.